In October 2005, the Tyler Area Builders Association in Tyler, Texas, set

out to show what process-driven work can do: build a house in record

time. With 579 volunteers and proven processes built into every part of

the job, they finished in 2 hours, 52 minutes and 29 seconds – a time that

included pouring the foundation, landscaping and obtaining the

certificate of occupancy. The project became known as the 2-Hour

House.

Watch the 2-Hour House go up: https://2hourhouse.com

 

Clearly, it took more than refined processes to pull off that feat.

Planning, preparation, leadership and teamwork were critical too. But

the common thread running through all of them was process.

About half of new businesses in America don’t survive five years,

according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are many

reasons, but two stand out at the building stage, when a company is

trying to grow. First, many companies lack the funding to finance the

growth needed to stay competitive. Second, they don’t install the

processes it takes to scale their operations. The ability to grow faster

than your competitors is a market advantage; using process-driven

methods to do it supports growth without compromising value.

Every operational element of a company must be evaluated and

reconfigured so best-practice processes maximize its performance. The

methods for building process into your company deserve their own

column. This one is about why it pays – and I hope it inspires you to

pursue process-driven practices in your organization.

The 2-Hour House offers a striking demonstration. According to a

representative of the project, it usually takes a day to set the house

forms, dig footings and set steel. The 2-Hour House team did it in 8

minutes. Roughing in the plumbing usually takes half a day; they did it in

7 minutes. Pouring and finishing concrete typically takes a day; this

group did it in 40 minutes. Now imagine your company applying the

same principles. Process enables a company to grow and expand

capacity. The refined practices born from those processes help a

company thrive during the building stage rather than be overwhelmed by

it.Let’s review how process can elevate your company’s performance.

 

Measurability

As early as the eighth grade, I competed in statewide theater

competitions in poetry, dramatic interpretation, oratory, prose and more.

In my first competition, I lost in every category. I was devastated. I was

also very competitive. What did I do wrong? I didn’t understand how my

performance would be measured. So I learned what the judges were

evaluating – the piece I selected, my timing, how well I knew my

selection, voice projection and so on – and how they would measure it. I

never lost a competition again. How can you perform and repeat a task if

you can’t measure it?

 

Measurability makes it possible to break down each step of a task, to

simplify it, understand it, refine it and teach it. That makes it possible to

train employees to carry out each step and track their progress, and it

ensures leaders can explain when and how each step will be evaluated.

This not only drives performance but also inspires your team, because

they understand your expectations.

 

Consistency

Process drives consistency. A task defined by measurable steps gives you

a roadmap you can use to train employees on exactly how to complete

each step. Consistency doesn’t happen by magic. It requires a map

defining what to do, how to do it, in what order, where to get the

resources, what it costs and how long it should take. That produces the

consistent outcomes it takes to build a company while delivering

uncompromised value and customer service.

 

A simple exercise shows how big a role communication plays in

consistent results. Seat two people back to back. Give one a diagram of a

design made of 12 dominoes, and give the other 12 dominoes. The person

with the diagram has two minutes to describe how to re-create it, without

the other person ever seeing it. People are often stunned by the results:

the arrangement rarely matches the diagram. Now think of this on a

larger scale. To build successfully, you need maps – and clear, consistent

communication about how to use them.

 

Efficiency

Process drives efficiency. Imagine life without Google Maps, Apple Maps

or Waze. These apps show drivers the most efficient route from where

they are to where they want to be. Applying process to your operational

tasks does the same thing.

Exercise: Pick one important task in your company. List each step it takes to complete it. Turn the steps into a workflow chart on the wall, with the beginning on the left and the end of the task on the right. If you are a solopreneur, do this with a trusted advisor or a service provider crucial to your business. Once the initial mapping is done, bring in your staff to help refine it. Team engagement is crucial. Evaluate each step on the chart based on:

• the time it takes

• the net value it contributes to the company

• the chronic problems associated with it

• the problems it reduces or solves

• the time it takes to train someone to do it

• its cost versus its value

• the materials it takes

• where those materials come from, and so on.

This workflow method is tedious, but it identifies the gaps in your

process so they can be fixed before you expand your company.

 

Productivity

When you can measure what your team must do, teach them to do it

consistently and apply process practices for efficiency, your entire

operation becomes more productive.

 

To show how crucial process is to results, I used to have corporate

leaders take part in a jet-building workshop. The executives were divided

into four teams and asked to build a plane out of Lego parts. Every team

received exactly the pieces needed to build the same plane. Team A also

received a black-and-white photo of the finished plane. Team B received

the same photo in color. Team C received the color photo and a section-

by-section schematic. Team D received all of that plus a step-by-step

manual. Of course, Team D finished first. Its members worked more

slowly at the start while they reviewed the manual and schematic, but

worked seamlessly after that, because they all knew what to do, how to

do it and in what order.

 

Quality

Process improves quality. Some software lets you choose the quality of a

document before you save or export it: good, better, best. Most printers

have a similar option. Wouldn’t it be nice if all we had to do was choose

“best” before starting a project? That is essentially what happens when

process-based practices are built into a company’s operations. You get

“best” almost every time, while also saving time on each project. If

quality is sacrificed for speed, it doesn’t matter whether your company

manufactures widgets or develops websites faster than your competitors.

You may be in the lead, but you won’t win the race. Clearly defined

performance indicators that let your team measure its work fuel quality.

The 2-Hour House was no exception: it earned its certificate of

occupancy within the record time.

 

Profitability

Process strengthens profitability. The research backs this up. In a study

of more than 12,000 companies, researchers writing in Harvard Business

Review found that moving a firm from the worst 10% to the best 10% of

management practices – things like setting targets, tracking performance

and standardizing how work gets done – was associated with a $15

million increase in profits, 25% faster annual growth and 75% higher

productivity. A separate study of 62 business-to-business companies, also

reported in HBR, found that executives at companies with a formally

defined sales process rated their revenue growth 18% higher than those

without one. Companies that also held regular pipeline reviews and

trained their managers rated it 28% higher.

 

When I was a kid, I played with my friend’s tiny cash register that rang a

bell when the drawer popped open. Even then, I loved playing pretend

business games, especially if I could put more play money in the register.

Most of us start a business for more than one reason: to support a cause

we care about, to do something we’re passionate about, to hear that cash

register ring, or simply to escape the typical corporate career. Whatever

the reason, a business must be profitable to survive – and many small

businesses struggle to stay in the black.

 

Process practices are among the most powerful tools for finding the

waste that erodes profits and uncovering hidden opportunities to

improve them. Review your pricing, profit margins, cash reserves, cash

flow, costs, market changes such as inflation, competitors and market

demand systematically to optimize profits.

 

In summation

Building a business that can withstand the rigors of growth is always a

challenge. But with planning, leadership, teamwork and process, your

company will perform better – and, like the 2-Hour House, it may even

set new records.

Get help.

Consider all your options for building process into your company: using

process automation and workflow management software, hiring processspecialists,

and rewarding staff who suggest process improvements.

Process gives you powerful building blocks: measurability, consistency,

efficiency, productivity, quality and profitability. With those in place, a

CEO can pursue a growth trajectory that delivers stellar outcomes.

What is the point of building a business if it isn’t the best business

possible? Don’t simply strive to build a company. Process-drive a legacy.

How you build reflects your character as an owner – and your devotion to

honoring God’s gift of entrepreneurship.

 

Jet Parker is a CEO, author and founder of CEO Wired and co-founder of Save Rural

Texas. Guided by her love of liberty, her faith and her dogged devotion to the

Constitution, she has spent more than 30 years building companies, advising 

leaders and defending Texas communities.

 

Sources:

Tyler Area Builders Association record (2:52:29, including foundation, landscaping and certificate of occupancy): Builder magazine; KLTV, “Volunteers from record-breaking ‘2-hour house’ gather for 20th anniversary,” Sept. 30, 2025. Business survival: U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics, “34.7 percent of business establishments born in 2013 were still operating in

2023” (50.6% after five years). Management practices: Raffaella Sadun, Nicholas Bloom and

John Van Reenen, “Why Do We Undervalue Competent Management?” Harvard Business

Review, September–October 2017. Sales process: Jason Jordan and Robert Kelly, “Companies

with a Formal Sales Process Generate More Revenue,” HBR.org, Jan. 21, 2015 (Vantage Point

Performance and Sales Management Association survey of 62 B2B companies).